


Uncaged

by Irishgrlnextdoor



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood, Horror, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Lots of tags-see in work for a full list, M/M, Monsters, Survival Horror, Vampire Batfamily, Vampire Bites, Vampire Dick Grayson, Vampires, minor dick/jason, roy harper/jason todd if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:27:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27090445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irishgrlnextdoor/pseuds/Irishgrlnextdoor
Summary: Tonight the cage door opens, and once more Jason must run for his life. The monsters are after him, however, and they are hungry.graphic blood/violence, dark themes, read full tag list insideHappy Early Halloween work #3
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd, Roy Harper/Jason Todd
Comments: 7
Kudos: 59





	Uncaged

**Author's Note:**

> Full tag list: Blood, violence, implied murder, implied rape, blood drinking, implied underage aggressor- violence onscreen/sexual offscreen, biting, nudity, vampires, monsters, vampire batfam, imprisonment, survival games, mind games, pain, periods, off-screen consumption of period blood, hunting humans, claws and fangs, loss of soul, offscreen transformations, dead robin-do not eat, let me know if I missed anything, I think I got it all, this is the Real hunger games right here

“W-we should send her out first.”

All eyes turned to Martin, some in horror, some in fury. He was unrepentant in his suggestion, however, trying to mask his own abject fear by lifting his chin a little higher, even as his voice continued to shake. “I mean- we should… shouldn’t we? That’s gonna be our best chance to get away… isn’t it? If they’re distracted than we might be able to-

He didn’t get to finish that train of thought before Jason moved. His fist connected with the side of Martin’s jaw with a satisfying snap. His knuckles burned, but he doubted it was anything compared to Martin’s pain as the other man went sprawling back on the ground in the little cell they all shared. “’If they’re _distracted’_ ,” he mimicked with disdain, words so vile on his tongue he almost spit after saying them. Jason dropped down closer to the man so he could hiss between them. “What you really mean is ‘if they’re too busy killing an innocent fucking girl’… Don’t fucking gloss over it if you’re willing to be the one calling for a fucking human sacrifice you chicken shit piece of-

Jason went for Martin again.

Martin yelped and flinched away, but Jason was stopped short by Roy, the other man pulling him back. “Jay no! Save your strength.”

He was right. They were just wasting the precious energy they had, and wasting even more time.

Jason kept mean-mugging Martin, but allowed himself to be pulled back by his redheaded friend to rejoin the small group of four others, still milling about anxiously in front of the open cell door.

Jason turned his attention at last from Martin back to Terra, who was curled up on the ground, crying into her knees and shaking from the force of her stifled sobs. She was so terrified, and who could blame her? She had good reason to be as afraid as she was.

She had started her period the day before. None of them had any clothing to hide anything like that, nor were they given anything to care for that sort of bodily function. The evidence of it was caking the inside of her legs and staining various spots she and the other girls tended to keep to in the cell- as best they could- when this would occur.

It wasn’t ideal circumstances for her or any of the other girls here at the best of times, but it was made so much worse because… because tonight the cell door had _opened_.

Twenty minutes ago, it had been remotely unlocked, and the steel door had swung open for them. They all knew what that meant, that the hunt was starting, that it had started the moment the door swung open.

Roughly once every week it would happen, and then they had that chance, that small hope, of escaping this hell. Outside of the cell they were completely enclosed in was a small cave- something dug down into the cold ground. Jason’s mind liked to tease him with the phrase ‘an open coffin’. There were dug-in stairs, which led up out of the cave they were in to ground level, and into the middle of a dense wooded area. A forest, as far as any of them or their predecessors could tell. Once they were in it… they could only run.

The rest of the time they were kept securely locked inside the large cage together, their only outside contact being an old man that would bring food down to the cell once a day, every day. Whenever there was someone new in the cell they would get the same rules given to them from this man, who would leave immediately after. They were simple rules.

Sometimes the cage door would open, and when it did they were allowed to run. If any of them ever managed to make it outside of the “hunting grounds” they would be granted freedom.

If only it was that simple. The hard part- the impossible part, was making it that far. They just had to avoid getting caught. Jason had been in the cell for just over three months… judging by his runs. Each week he would run. Each week he would get caught. And then he would be fed upon, same as all the others.

The ones that hunted them were monsters. Not in any metaphoric sense. It turned out that monsters were very real. They were fast, and strong, and blood-thirsty, and every week at least one of them would catch Jason, and all the others that ran from the cage. Then whoever caught him would bite him and then they would drain him of his strength just to the point that he would almost welcome death… and then they would feed their lust. And then he would wake up again in the same fucking cell for another week of iron-rich meals to compare his battle scars with the others.

The monsters enjoyed the hunt. They enjoyed the fear and the desperation. Worst of all, they enjoyed the glimmers of hope that Jason and his cellmates clung to. It was hell, but Jason wasn’t giving that chance up. He couldn’t. Roy had joined the cell just a week after Jason, and he refused to give up hope either. Some weren’t so stubborn.

Martin hadn’t run the past two weeks, but there was nothing to be gained in that. For anyone who stayed in the cell, the old man would come for after a couple hours, bringing along a monster or two, and together they collected blood anyway off the caged victims. All it did was deny the chance that they might actually make it out, and each chance was too precious in Jason’s eyes to waste.

These conditions they were kept in were not sustainable, and the anemia brought about by the weekly… blood draws- prevented this from being any sort of long-term residency. There was only one person that had been here longer than Jason, and only by two weeks… and she was currently curled up in a mess of her own blood, sobbing like a broken thing because her blood would indeed attract the monsters to her like a baited lure.

Jason dropped down next to her, put an arm around her shaking shoulders, and pulled her in close. “Terra, it’s going to be okay,” he promised, whispering soft reassurances against her matted blonde hair.

Her face was a wreck when she finally lifted her head to glare at him, and he didn’t fault her for doing so. “Fucking liar. I’m not going to make it ten feet from the hole if I go, much less to some imaginary fence. I’m- I’m never going to get out of this alive!” she wept. 

Jason held her tighter, telling both himself and her that she was wrong at the same time, because they both needed the convincing in that moment. He spared another glare for Martin. “I- I’m going to help, okay? I’ll run with you. That fence isn’t imaginary. Roy saw it himself, just two weeks ago. Tell her, Roy.”

The redhead crouched in front of her so she could see him better, his green eyes earnest despite the fear clinging around the edges of them. “It’s true. It was there, tall and chain-link, nothing impossible to get over. Jason and I can both run with you tonight. We can try to find it again.”

He had sworn up and down to seeing it, taken down just after it had come into his view by one of the monsters. Jason had no reason to doubt him.

Promising to run with her this time… the significance wasn’t lost on Terra, who stared up at them like they were a cross between saviors and madmen. Madmen was probably the more accurate term. Unfair as it was for the girls, if their periods hit when the doors were open, they never got too far. Martin’s suggested tactic to push her out first as a distraction was… not a new one.

There had been a lot of horrible things done in this cage in the name of survival.

“We should get going before they come down looking for us,” Roy whispered, remorse just for having to say it was clear in his voice despite his resolve.

Twenty minutes after the doors had been opened, and no one had gone out yet. The unspoken and horrible truth was that the group had lingered to see if Terra would go out or not- because they would run in the opposite direction if she did.

A part of Jason wanted to protest Roy actually running with them, for his own sake… but then maybe that meant Jason really didn’t even believe himself when he told Terra they’d be okay. He was just stubborn and a bleeding heart enough that he couldn’t do that in the face of Terra’s tears. For his own sake either, hoping that maybe so long as she could hold out, having been there the longest, that there was still time for himself as well. He turned to offer her a tight smile and another comforting lie for them both. “See, Roy and I are going to help, so it’s going to be okay.”

X

The forest was dark, only the closest trees visible to them because here even the moon was blocked out. As he, Roy, and Terra inched away from the stairs they had ascended, he tried not to fault the others when they immediately ran out in various opposite directions. There was no pretense or subtlety. The only one that really tested Jason’s self control was Martin, who dared to run out this time, thinking his chances better because of Terra.

They had one thing going for them, however, being that Roy was fairly certain he had gone this way before when he had come across a fence. Week after week, running in all different directions, no one else had made it to a fence before. Not that anyone in the cell was aware of anyway. Sometimes they would wake up after a hunt with one less person in the cells. It was impossible to know when this happened if they had gone free or finally been killed off in a feeding. Jason always hoped they had gotten away, but…

“This way,” Roy insisted, leading the way as they all started a quick step through the forest, trying to keep the noise down. “I ran for maybe two hours before I came upon it, so we need to-

They all froze when a scream erupted through the trees, the sound bloodcurdling to the point it was almost inhuman with pain. And then it abruptly cut off, and the silence to follow was just as deafening. It signaled the first catch of the hunt. The monsters were moving fast tonight.

“Go!” Jason urged, and they hardly needed the prompting, all three turning to break into a jog through the trees. They had to be careful of not just making noise, but also of hidden roots and rocks and the faster they went the harder it was to dodge trees springing up at them in the dark. Jason kept close behind Terra, and every stray rustle of leaf around them had his hair standing on end with dread.

Every step they took was another step Jason could hardly believe they had gotten away with, and for ten minutes it was one miracle step after another.

Then there was the distinct sound of a twig snapping to their right, and they all paused for just a moment like deer caught in headlights. There was nothing but the shadows of tree trunks as far as the eye could see- which wasn’t far. Standing still, it was then that they all noticed together the lack of noise. No owls, or bats, or crickets disturbed the perfect silence that was just unnatural for a forest. It was the quiet that came before chaos. It was a silence they had learned to associate with the beasts that stalked them. The silence that came with being stalked.

They bolted.

Seasoned as they were at this now, the three of them gave up their own silence for full-out sprinting, running full tilt in as straight a line as they could manage while ducking around trees and under brush, feet torn up on rock and fallen branch alike.

Jason’s heel came down on a particularly sharp rock, and he faltered and cursed, certain that he would be leaving an even easier trail for them to follow than Terra had been up to that point. The wind carried on it an echo of delighted laughter, shrill and far too excitable, and they ran even faster, until Jason couldn’t even feel if his feet were being torn up as icy fear numbed every pain.

At least one of the monsters was onto them now, stalking and toying.

Jason heard the echo of footfalls just behind his own pacing with him, felt a huff of breath on the back of his neck, a high chuckle sounding in his ear. He stopped short and looked over his shoulder, resigned to fight so that maybe Roy could get Terra away.

The noises stopped, and there was nothing there behind him.

He whipped back around to the sound of Terra’s stifled scream, and his blood chilled as he found the cause. Standing right in front of them all was- for all appearances- a mere child. It was a disturbing act. Jason had been taken down by this beast in disguise once before, unable to fight back for the monster’s shocking strength and speed. Even by this small one, he had been viciously pinned and bit by teeth that pierced as easily as needles into his flesh. There were multiple claw scars on his shoulders and chest still from the little demon’s grip upon him as he had drank. In the dark his eyes were eerily green, trained intently upon them all, nothing natural about the way they glowed.

But then that phantom laugh echoed around them again and Jason realized two things in tandem. One, the little demon wasn’t hunting them alone. Two, Jason knew who was herding them into this ambush now, and his dread spread throughout his body like insulation pumped into drywall, filling every crevice. This time when he glanced over his shoulder, the other monster was there, right there, within a foot of his back, and those blue eyes glowed bright overtop a manic grin- flashing teeth that were far too sharp. Teeth that Jason already knew well the pain of.

Before he could even move to swing upon the beast in defense, strong arms were around him, holding him like a steel vise, pressing him back against the naked, cold body of the monster that had him caught now. “Run!” Jason screamed out, because it was the best he could hope for that maybe one of the others might make it still.

The bite he anticipated didn’t come right away.

The little demon gave no such hesitation, pouncing with a monstrous growl, fangs shiny with saliva as he prepared to bite. Roy tried to keep him from Terra, rushing forward to meet the monster’s lunge. The thud as they collided made Jason wince, because Roy might as well have run square into a wall of concrete, and then that was it for him. The child gripped with his claws, and Jason had sympathy pains to see them sink into Roy’s shoulders, his feet scraping at Roy’s thighs to give him lift, and then those teeth snapped down on the man’s shoulder so fast that Roy had no time to even bring his hands up to push the small beast off.

Clamped on, Jason saw the blood well up within the maw of the little demon, and Roy screamed out in pure pain as he dropped to his knees with the shock of it.

“Terra, ru-

Terra was brutally slammed into out of nowhere from the side, whisked into the underbrush and out of Jason’s sight before she could so much as scream in response. All the air was likely knocked from her with that tackle anyway. Jason had caught just a glimpse of black hair and a womanly physic, telling him it was the quiet one that had taken her, the beast he had never heard speak even one word, not even a growl, but could strike with the most startling ferocity. It was only after they had disappeared into the darkness that Jason heard a choked scream come from Terra, and then his stomach churned as yet another monster rushed by, right in front of him and into the brush, to join in on the take-down. This one a blonde female, whom Jason had heard talking on numerous occasions as if it were her favorite hobby, but usually after the feeding was over.

The chattiest one, however, and the one Jason most loathed to be caught by, was currently purring against the back of his neck. He could still feel that grin against his skin, the scrape of fangs. He was still held, forced to just stand there watching as Roy tried to struggle against the little demon, who quickly brought him all the way down to the ground and climbed atop him to suckle at a new bite he had inflicted, shivering and moaning softly in approval as if he were a child drinking down a smoothie.

“You fucking monsters!” Jason growled in indignant fury.

The blue-eyed beast behind him chuckled that same gleeful chuckle, running his tongue teasingly up the back of Jason’s neck. Jason repressed a scream at the feel of it, this time in furious disgust as his skin crawled in the wake of it.

The others were easier. They would hunt, they would stalk, they could catch, and then they would feed.

This one, a male, lithe and beautiful in appearance, liked to play, to taunt, to draw out the hunt. Sadistic fuck.

“Settle Jason, settle,” he whispered into his ear. “This is a happy occasion. Damian’s coming into his own as a hunter. This ambush was by his design, a flawless success all around, and we got to witness it from the best seats in the house- er, if we weren’t outside that is.”

Jason continued to struggle, useless as it was, just as Roy continued to squirm and whimper beneath the young one. Damian. They had names for each other. Jason had nearly forgotten because… how could the devil have a man’s name? The one holding him had once called himself-

“Dick! Let me the fuck go!”

“Hmm… good idea.”

Jason was released so fast, he almost fell right onto the demon child and Roy when he stumbled, barely catching himself in time.

“Run, Jason.”

He turned back to face Dick, and the grin was a truly wicked thing as it filled the beast’s face, displaying those fangs. Jason’s heart was already trying to beat out of his chest. He was already covered in a cold sweat, so the sight was too late to inspire those now. It did, however, bring about another frigid shiver within him. “I won’t-

Dick’s voice was tense, excited, and losing patience. “I want you to run for me Jason. I’ll give you a head start. The girl reeks of blood, and- call me a glutton, but I want a taste. I’ll come for you right after. I won’t be far behind. So run Jason. You’re just short of halfway to the property line, and the others are busy chasing down your peers on the other side of the estate.”

But Terra… Roy… he wouldn’t leave without-

He had only started to look over to the demon brat feasting upon his friend, wanting to try to stop him, to attack, but Dick swept around between them quickly with a harsh snap of his jaws, the sound chilling Jason down to his bones as he reeled back from his felled friend. Dick put himself protectively between Jason and them, even as Damian lifted his head long enough to hiss through blood-soaked lips before leaning back down to lap at the mess and rub himself against the pinned body beneath as Jason’s stomach churned violently at the sight of both violations taking place.

Dick reclaimed his attention, however, as he started to advance in warning. “Fly away little bird. This one’s wings are clipped. Run now or lose this chance, Little Wing.”

He couldn’t just- he could maybe- if he-

Jason pivoted his weight back and forth, but ultimately it was Roy’s garbled ‘go’ that made up his mind. Jason gulped down the lump in his throat, and turned and ran.

He had to try. He had to go, because maybe if he could get free he could find some way to save the others. He ran as fast as he could, his strong thighs eating up the distance, mindless of anything but whatever was directly in front of him. Dodging around the trees and brush was suddenly far more effortless, like the path had just opened up for him, and everything was clearer with the adrenaline coursing through him to hyper focus him.

He just ran, no stopping, or slowing. He just ran.

X

He ran himself to the brink of exhaustion, unaware if it had been minutes or hours… there was just no thought of stopping.

He dodged around yet another tree trunk as it appeared before him- only to let out a strangled scream when he crashed right into a net, thrown back by the springiness of it to be sent sprawling to the ground. As Jason collected his bearings, the burning of his lungs and ache in his legs finally breaking through the haze of adrenaline now that he had been brought to a halt, he could gather that it wasn’t a net that had stopped him. It was a chain-link fence.

Jason wanted to scream again, in relief- desperation- trauma induced anxiety- he didn’t know. He didn’t chance wasting the time to do it, either, nor the attention it might attract. He was to busy scrambling. His legs were having a hard time supporting him at this most critical moment, aching and trembling as they were, his chest heaving like he might pass out right there. Jason refused to heed either of their plights as he dragged himself across the damp ground. He clung to the fence, dragging himself up far enough until he could force his trembling legs back under himself. His feet were a mess, and his own blood made them slip and sting against the chain-link, but it worked well enough, and he wouldn’t have given up at this point even if the fence were made of razors.

He had just reached up for the top bar when a fiery pain exploded up through him, originating from the back of his right thigh. Jason couldn’t hold back a scream, and his grip slipped on the fence, only a little, but it was enough for Dick’s arm to snake around Jason’s waist and easily pull him free.

Jason felt like his vision narrowed down to the links separating further and further away from his grasping hands, and then the tree canopy above as he landed hard flat on his back. And then there was only Dick, grinning wide, his lower face covered in blood. He straddled Jason’s bare chest and leaned in close overtop of him. “That was a close one, Jason! You had nearly flown the coop! I underestimated you, but A+ for effort!”

There was blood all over his face, both dried and wet, heavy around his lips and chin, even tinting his teeth in the moonlight. Jason feared for Terra and Roy- mostly Terra since Dick had specifically mentioned wanting a taste from her, and with two other monsters already upon her… frenzies could occur. He had seen it happen once before, the victim ripped apart in the process. Some was very fresh, however, had to be Jason’s own. He didn’t know the extent of the damage but his leg was on fire back where he had been bit. Had Dick actually bitten a chunk out of him?

Those blue eyes were hell-fire in the night above him, and he wanted to tear them from the monster’s skull for how pleased they looked as they shined down upon him.

 _No_ , screamed his head, his heart- his soul. “No!” Jason screamed out loud, the forest echoing from the great bellow before falling still once more.

Dick dared to mock Jason’s agony further by snickering through the silence that followed. He managed easily to catch Jason’s fists as they swung up at him, pinning them to either side of his head in a grip that was as cold and solid as iron bars.

Jason’s chest throbbed in pain from the force of his own heartbeat and staggered breathing. Cold sweat coated his body. He was nearly spent, worn out between his fear, anger, and his futile effort to escape. It was further insulting how calm and collected the monster above him was. He wasn’t panting like Jason. He was utterly still, as if breathing wasn’t necessary at all, much less an obstacle. Undead fiend.

Jason kicked, and Dick corrected his balance upon him, riding out Jason’s struggles like a champion bull-rider with that same manic smile. Neither of them were clothed. The only one that ever seemed to wear clothing was the old man that saw to their care between feedings. So when the monster started to become noticeably excited by Jason’s struggle Jason started and recoiled as much as was possible against the damp earth. The monster only chuckled even more menacingly. It added to the degradation, that they would take not only their blood but their bodies after to sate themselves without remorse.

Jason’s gaze fell back to the fence, so close, he could reach out and brush his finger tips against the links at the bottom if not for Dick holding his wrists. It made it worse. So much worse. “Let go of me,” Jason growled, flat out ignoring the amusement that seemed to fill Dick at the bearing of his blunt human teeth.

Dick actually did obey, but only in the sense of releasing his wrists. Jason tried to hit at the monster again, but his otherwise powerful blows had no more affect than a child flailing against an adult. Dick ignored the minor irritation for the moment, content to allow Jason to struggle in vain as he leaned down to nuzzle against Jason’s cheek before running his tongue across his skin with a pleased hum.

Jason gasped and turned away because the smell of blood and the cool dampness of the beast’s breath was staggering. Was Terra okay? Had Dick bitten her or was that just blood from her period coating his face? Jason didn’t know. He didn’t really want to ask, just in case she wasn’t okay at all and Dick proceeded to taunt him with that knowledge.

Dick, however, almost never needed provocation to taunt his prey. “Jason Jason Jason…” he cooed, “You are my absolute favorite to hunt. Even if your blood tasted like mud I think I would still hunt you just for how fun you make it. Your fighting spirit is incredibly durable. Even after months, you still run every time. You still try so hard, and when you’re caught you struggle right up to the moment of blacking out. None of the others last so long. Even your friend Roy falls into acceptance by the time his body is made use of. Terra fell still at the first bite my sister took from her. But not you. You’re caught, at my mercy, and still you dare bare teeth at me.”

He leaned in closer, trying to get right in Jason’s face again. “Use them then, little bird, bite me if that’s what you want.”

Jason grit his jaw even tighter, turning his head away once more. Some of the mad theories shared by those before him had warned against ingesting the blood of these creatures. It might kill him, or worse. He wasn’t willing to chance it. “Fuck off,” Jason growled again.

Dick only chuckled more, right into Jason’s ear, and Jason jolted when that cold tongue ran along the shell of it before dipping in. He felt his stomach turn as a chill crawled down his spine, and he started struggling and hitting at Dick all over again, no more effective than before.

“Jason, your spirit is admirable, but be still, for I have an offer to make you. A deal for your freedom.”

Jason did fall still, never having gotten an offer to bargain for his freedom before from any of the monsters after being caught. This was entirely new territory. Or likely just a new trick, his mind warned him. He needed to ignore the monster. He needed…

Jason glanced again to the fence right next to them, freedom closer than it had ever been before, or might possibly ever be again. But Dick was an unmovable barrier between them.

“What deal?” he gritted out.

The grin Dick held was nothing short of demonic. He eased back a bit off of Jason. “I’ve been given permission to give you a very special offer Jason. No more cages, no more struggles. No more being prey. A freedom from all of that. Wouldn’t you like that?”

Jason’s stomach began to twist in dread, because the offer Dick was making… “Why do I feel like you’re not actually offering to allow me to hop that fence?”

“Because what I’m offering you is something so much better,” Dick pressed, laying his body out over Jason’s. It was still to pin him, but there was a pretense of relaxation in the beast’s movement as it brought them closer. Jason only grew tenser. He had a sick feeling as to what Dick was actually offering him.

When he had first been added to the cage, there had been others before him that were now long gone, and they had been full of horror stories. They had spoken of one of them, another human, that had eventually started hunting alongside the other monsters. They had spoken of mad theories on how a small man named Timothy had made deals with the beasts. Jason had been fed upon by one such petite monster before, one that the others called ‘Tim’.

He tried to force down the nausea building in him, leaning away again when Dick’s sharp teeth pressed up against the side of his throat in a mockery of a nuzzle. “It’s always so much better to be the hunter than the hunted Jason, and I’d bet anything that you would be beautiful as a hunter. There’s freedom in this life, freedom beyond anything you’ve ever known prior. What you’ve been striving for this whole time… you can have even better. It’s an incredible gift Jason. I would know, I accepted it myself… a very long time ago. You wouldn’t be alone. Many of us were once in your position, but we have each other now.”

 _Jesus Christ Almighty_ , Jason could hear his departed mother’s voice swearing for him somewhere in the back of his mind. Jason felt a new fear seep deep down within him, right to the bone. Deeper still to his very soul.

Being hunted was horrifying, but this offer… this offer was so much worse. This time Dick was prepared to take not just his blood and body. They were after so much more than that, and Jason barely held back an outraged roar even as he started to tremble beneath the beast that reeked of blood and the damp rotted earth. The thought of being one of them… it was beyond sickening.

Roy’s face came to mind first. Would Jason hunt down his friend like he was nothing more than an animal? Feed off of him? Rape him and throw him back into the same cage to rot for another week before doing it again? Would Terra be next? Or any of the others? Would he be the one to week after week fill them with fear for his own twisted amusement before stealing away their one feeble hope of freedom? He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. He refused.

Dick’s face turned, that smile fading away, and it was then that Jason realized his refusal hadn’t just been in his own head. Dick look at him with something akin to ironic commiseration. “Sweet pet, while I do commend it, right now is not the time to fight. I understand all too well your instinct to do so. I was scared too when Bruce first made me the same deal, but I’ve known nothing but gratitude ever since my freedom was given to me. Join us and take that same freedom for yourself. There is no shame in it.”

The hell there wasn’t, the thought of feeding off someone else like a parasite brought nothing but shame and revulsion to Jason, and he renewed his struggles, fighting harder than before because this time he felt like he was officially fighting not just for his very life, but for his very soul. “Get off me, Monster! Freak! Asshole! Demon! I’ll fucking kill you! I will kill all of you! Just because you were weak enough to accept a devil’s deal doesn’t mean I am. How’s this for a deal, Dick-face; let me go and I won’t kill you slowly and painfully or fucking kill me now because I will find a way to do so otherwise. If you make a monster out of me I will become the one that stalks you and your fucked up little family of freaks, do you understand me?”

His ranting screams were swallowed up in the darkness of the forest, no response given. The forest remained still outside of them, and Dick actually retained his silence as well for once. It was eerie, and his stony expression betrayed nothing of what he was thinking. There was no anger, or disappointment, or glee. There was nothing but that stillness that rivaled death.

He glanced over towards the fence that Jason had been staring down, as if just noticing it was there for the first time, like he hadn’t bitten and yanked Jason right off of it. “You’re so close aren’t you… poor little bird.”

Jason slammed his fist into Dick’s side again, who merely jumped as if he had been poked by an impish sibling before turning his attention back to Jason. “What would you give me right now just to let you climb it? To allow you to scale that fence and earn freedom for yourself on the other side?”

Jason wanted to scream all over again, because Dick’s cruelty was limitless to mock him further with this. But that hope… that unyielding hope tore Jason in two, right down the middle, and pulled out a strained question from his lips. “What do I even have left?”

Dick seemed to actually consider this, looking more serious than Jason had ever seen him before. It was honestly a surprise when he seemed to reach an answer. “Your will, Jason. Offer me a taste of your free will. A kiss- yes, give your kiss to me willingly, invite me to drink of it, and then I will allow you to go seeking your precious freedom on the other side of that fence.”

Jason considered what was being asked of him. He wanted a taste of surrender from Jason, a willing surrender, even a momentary one. It was something they hadn’t yet gotten out of him. At this point, Dick had had tastes through his blood of his fear, his anger, his despair, and even his thinly stretched hopes. But surrender was something he still did not want to give, even at that price.

It wasn’t his soul being asked for this time at least. Still, Jason felt nauseous all over again, even as he continued to consider. Again, Roy’s face flashed in his mind, quickly followed by the others. “You would swear to let me go if I… cooperate in a feeding?” 

Dick retained that stoniness, but his answer was firm. “I will not interfere with you further afterwards.”

Jason was still rightfully wary. “When you feed you drain me of all my strength. I’m not going to agree if you’re just going to-

“I would not this time,” Dick promised, before warning. “Dawn is merely hours away, and your window of opportunity before I retract my deal and take from you as I always have before grows short.”

Jason wouldn’t be so easily bullied. “Why make the deal at all, Demon? Why not just take as you always have then?”

Dick actually did smile then, but there was nothing gleeful about it. It was… contrite. “Maybe I want a taste of this freedom you chase. In any case, make your choice, little bird, before it is made for you.”

Jason held the faces of his fellow victims close in his heart. This wasn’t just _his_ chance. He made his choice. He would make this deal with the devil, because otherwise he feared he would die waiting for angels. “Do it,” Jason grit out, nearly choking on the words scratching out of his throat. “You- you can feed.” He nearly lost his nerve on the last word, hot angry tears of self-betrayal welling in his eyes to be offering this act that had become a routine violation, but he blinked past them.

Jason tensed as Dick accepted his invitation, slowly leaning down over him again, nuzzling his collar bones and kissing innocently at Jason’s jaw-line. Then Dick’s lips were brushing over Jason’s own, and Jason almost screamed in horror as the scent of blood filled his nose stronger than ever, copper and sour.

Dick gripped his head just a little firmer than a lover would, and Jason willed down his impulse to fight back or resist as Dick’s lips pressed against his own and a soft cool tongue slid between Jason’s lips. He flinched at the taste, making some strangled noise in the back of his throat of disgust, but Dick moaned against him, and delved in deeper, coaxing Jason’s tongue to move against his own with soft strokes and teasing flicks.

Jason’s cheeks burned, and he trembled with the restraint to not pull away, to not gag.

His tongue followed Dick’s, sucked into the beast’s mouth, and then came the pinch as those sharp teeth nipped down. Jason jumped at the slight pain, but Dick gripped the back of his head to hold him closer still and let out a moan strong enough to vibrate through them both as he started sucking harder at Jason’s tongue within his own mouth. Jason tried not to feel affected by that needy moan, but his body trembled further in confusion between the fear and the out of place act he was engaging in, especially when the beast started to rock softly upon his hips like a needy lover.

Jason didn’t touch him. He didn’t want to. He gripped the grass and dirt on either side to literally ground himself instead as Dick continued to suck and stroke at Jason’s nicked tongue until it throbbed dully with pain. The taste of blood was shared between them.

When the kiss finally broke Dick’s smile was back, and Jason noted the drops of fresh blood sitting on his bottom lip. The blood on Dick’s face that had been dried prior was smudged, and Jason’s stomach rolled to think some of it was no doubt on his own face at this point. Some of it in his own mouth.

Jason would find some way to come back and make them pay for Terra’s suffering.

When Dick didn’t get up, however, Jason felt his sweat start to turn cold on his skin. He forced himself to ask despite the fear of the possible answer. “Are you going to go back on the deal now?”

Dick seemed to almost consider it, licking his tongue along the drops of Jason’s blood on his bottom lip slowly, savoring the taste.

Jason didn’t rise to the bait, merely glaring the beast down.

Dick gave a drawn out sigh, but eventually lifted himself off of Jason, and then put about five feet of distance between them before Jason could even blink.

“Go fly to your freedom, little bird. You’ve earned it.”

Jason didn’t waste any more time. Half out of fear that Dick would change his mind, and half out of fear that his own mind would put enough fear into him to cause Jason to back out of this for the likely trap it was, made him scramble onto his still-bleeding feet and back onto the fence. He didn’t look back at all as he cursed and struggled his way up and over. The pain shocking through his body was staggering. He managed through it.

It was only after he was straddling the top post of the fence that he even glanced Dick’s way warily. The monster’s bright eyes continued to watch him unblinkingly, but he retained his distance.

Jason’s heart leapt when he all but dropped off the other side, too eager to reach the ground to wait the climb back down. It came up to meet him just as eagerly, and he grunted hard when it knocked into him.

He had… he had made it.

He was on the other side of the fence. At last he had made it and freedom was his. Jason picked himself up with a few pained grunts and turned his head to look back to Dick.

He’d like to think that had been his mistake, but the truth was he had never really stood a chance. Before he had even properly straightened, a shadow fell over him, blocking out the little light offered, and then something bigger and stronger than even Dick was upon him, lifting him easily. The bite came before Jason could even turn his head back around to look, and he screamed loud into the night as this new beast he had never encountered before bit down viscously into his neck.

X

Jason heard bickering, screwing his eyes shut tight and turning over on his side in search of more sleep. The bickering was petty at best, and so he ignored it. Someone else would take care of it.

Unfortunately, the most likely candidate seemed to have no immediate interest in doing so, because Jason’s shoulder was gripped and he caught the sweet smell that he used to associate with rotten earth before Dick’s voice whispered gleefully in his ear. “No sleeping in tonight, little wing. Wakey wakey.”

Jason thought about shrugging him off, but didn’t see much point in it. He was awake already, and if there was anything Jason had learned well over the past week, it was that Dick was not someone that could be shrugged off. There had been a large amount learned over the past week, however, ever since Jason had been gifted this new freedom.

Jason gave a growl of annoyance towards the other beast, but acquiesced, turning back over to start getting up. Dick flashed a sharp smile in triumph, and gave Jason more room to rouse himself while he went to break up the bickering between Tim and Damian. They were starting to snarl and flash fang at each other. Soon biting would follow and that would be a great mess.

Jason sat up with a groan, looking over the edge of the shallow bed he had dug for himself in the dirt on his first night of freedom. Next to him was a line of similar dirt-beds, varying in size. Most were empty, the nesting area of the caves running under the estate grounds already largely vacated. Besides Dick- now busy breaking up the squabble- Cassandra was still in her bed, just a few down from Jason’s. She offered him a soft familial smile before stepping up to make her way out. Usually more tended to linger here first thing after nightfall.

Tonight everyone was anxious to get going, however. The hunt was tonight.

Jason was more hesitant, whispers of conflictions he had once known still haunting him like ghosts of a soul he had been freed of. The beast in him, however, was already focusing upon the prospect, pulling his instincts to rise, to go out, to stalk and chase and trap and-

Feed.

It was the singular desire awakening inside of him. For a whole week he had been free of any pain, any fear or uncertainties.

He had been surprised when he had first woken up. Shocked to find he wasn’t dead, or in agonizing pain from having his neck torn out, or in despair as the realizations of why presented themselves to him. His fear for himself, for those he had run himself to death for previously, it was gone- like a cancer that had been cut out of him. Just… gone. That pain was a memory to him now, and not one he was prone to dwell upon. Something he could no longer feel. His ties to humanity had been severed, a cut clean enough to make a master swordsman weep in jealousy.

Remorse, regret, fear, love, rage- even pain in the physical sense was practically snuffed out for their kind, and in place of that was something simpler, stronger. Jason had never known such peace in himself before.

He had Dick to thank for that he supposed. He wasn’t even mad about being lied to before about what awaited on the other side of the fence. He didn’t feel bad when he lied either now. It was easy to do. It was fun, even. A few of the others assured him that feeding was the same, freeing and fun and heady and grounding all at once. Like sex. And one desire would feed into the other, naturally.

Jason patted some of the dirt off of his bare skin where it clung on after pulling himself up out of his bed. He passed by Dick and the smaller beasts, leaving the nesting space to seek out the main gathering area. He knew the others would be there to await the beginning of the hunt.

Bruce was there. He was so large and formidable compared to all the other monsters, that it was impossible to not notice him first and foremost. He would not join in the main hunt. Jason had been told that he never did. He allotted the main hunting grounds to his created beasts and patrolled the outer fences instead. Jason had been told he didn’t need to feed nearly as often as the rest of them, but when he did he liked taking the strongest prey for himself, those that proved themselves able to get to him at all. As far as Jason knew, the rest could feed and kill, but only Bruce’s bite could bestow the freedom he now knew.

Those eyes glowed bright white, free of any iris in the darkness of the caves as they turned towards their newest brood member. “We’ll give them an hour before we go out, Alfred just remotely opened the cage a few minutes ago. Usually an hour in their blood is pumping richer. If you’re wanting to ease in, given that this will be your first time, there might be one or two staying in the cages. You could go down there later instead to-

Jason was already shaking his head in refusal, “I want to join the hunt.” 

He did. He really did. He already knew who he wanted as his first, having the man on his mind most of the week already. Jason didn’t argue further, relaxing when Bruce agreed and informed him that he would be sticking with Dick tonight then. That was fine.

Everything was fine.

Jason was just looking forward to seeing Roy again.

**Author's Note:**

> subscribe for more horror/halloween fun for this month, and please leave a kudos/review  
> thank you


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